ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has appointed Justice (retd) Dost Muhammad Khan as the Caretaker Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Earlier on Monday, the Speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Asad Qaiser in a letter forwarded four names to the ECP, asking it to appoint the Provincial Caretaker Chief Minister within two days.
The Election Commission held a detailed deliberations over the issue, and on Tuesday finally named Justice (retd) Dost Muhammad Khan as the Caretaker Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
خیبر پختونخوا کے نگران وزیراعلیٰ جسٹس(ر)دوست محمد ہونگے:الیکشن کمیشن pic.twitter.com/h02gMoUphS
— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) June 5, 2018
Justice (retd) Dost Muhammad Khan – who has varied legal background and enjoys good reputation – was the nominee of the Opposition Parties along with Manzoor Khan Afridi.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had proposed Himayatullah Khan and Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi for the Post.
But the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the Opposition failed to reach consensus on a name, and eventually the issue was referred to the ECP.
Justice (retd) Dost Muhammad served as the Supreme Court judge from February 1, 2014 to March 19, 2018. He also remained the Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) from November 17, 2011 to January 31, 2014.
Justice (retd) Dost Muhammad refused to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) on November 3, 2007 and rejected all kinds of offers. He also announced the verdict of Pervez Musharraf’s lifetime disqualification.